We Believe

Statement of Faith

Of the Scriptures

We believe that the Scripture contained in the Bible is written by divinely inspired, elected individuals and authored by God. The Bible is God’s word revealed to his children, constructed with intention, purpose, and truth in its purest form. The Bible is inerrant and authoritative in all it affirms. Scripture is the final rule for faith and practice. The words of Scripture are sufficient for salvation, godliness, and the Christian life.

Of the Nature of God

We believe in a Triune God, of one being in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is eternal, sovereign, holy, all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present, and immutable. We acknowledge God in true theism – He is who created all things out of nothing and rules all things by his providence. God’s domain is boundless, of this earth, this material universe, and beyond our known existence into all things everywhere. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, Who was, is, and is to come. We affirm both the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed.

Of the Humanity

We believe humans are created in the image of God, with dignity and purpose. We affirm that all humans descend from Adam and Eve, are born after the Flood from the family of Noah, and were scattered into their uniqueness at the Tower of Babel. We glorify God as a relational, personal being, who created humans as an expression of His love and gave humans free will to establish an environment where true love could be shown to our Creator in return.

Of Sin and The Fall

We believe in the Fall of Adam, and that the original sin has permeated all of humanity since. We acknowledge that all humans suffer from a sin nature, needing Jesus Christ to guide our actions in this world and his atoning sacrifice to reconcile us with Him in the world after and forevermore.

Of Jesus

We believe that Jesus Christ, as one person of the Triune God, is fully God and fully man. He was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, and performed real miracles as God, because Jesus is God, and in his authority, Lord. Jesus Christ is King of kings, and Lord of lords. We believe that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, was raised in Nazareth, was tried in Jerusalem, and was crucified on the outskirts of that same city on the hill of Calvary. We proclaim that Jesus’s crucifixion was a substitutionary, atoning, and propitiatory sacrifice for our original and experienced sin. We affirm that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures in his final victory over death. Jesus and the Father sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, 50 days after his resurrection. We prescribe to the Definition of Chalcedon, constructed in 451 AD, as an accurate description of the person and natures of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will return in glory and in judgment for the living and the dead, will issue Satan and his demons their final and total defeat, and will establish the New Heaven and the New Earth for all eternity. All who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, acknowledging, glorifying, and believing with true faith in who He is, what He did, and what His actions meant, will have their names in the Book of Life and will share in a reunited eternity with their Creator. All those who deny Jesus Christ and the wicked will face eternal separation from God.

Of the Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is God, one person of the Trinity and truly divine as the Father and the Son, coequal and coeternal. The Holy Spirit regenerates, indwells, sanctifies, empowers, and seals believers. He gives gifts for the building up of the Church. Because Jesus has established the New Covenant, the Spirit now indwells believers at all times, for all needs. The Holy Spirit convicts and guides believers, the ever-still and ever-present presence with us in our lives.

Of Salvation

We believe salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Justification is a legal declaration of righteousness based on Christ’s righteousness imputed to us, which for the believer inevitably results in imparted righteousness exercised in sanctification. Believers are regenerated in Jesus Christ, born again of the Spirit by a supernatural work. Believers can be saved by receiving and accepting God’s holy and prevenient grace, but God’s sovereignty alone gives the believer a true rebirth which is apart from any action, inclination, conviction, or desire of a person. God’s saving grace is for all, but certain people are elected for profound divine purposes in humanity – this is solely at God’s sovereign discretion. We acknowledge that there are the concepts of election, predestination, free will, belief, faith, choice, love, God’s sovereignty and foreknowledge, sin, seeking, responsibility for human action, direct calls to abide by commands of the Lord, holiness, righteousness, and the necessity of sanctification in Christian living, knowing all of these are under God’s sovereign domain and only made possible by the grace God gives us; the balance of how these factors play out in the world and our lives will never be fully grasped by us, but we strive to acknowledge, serve, and believe as close to the truth as possible, knowing we as humans are powerless to accomplish anything truly good on our own merits and are in desperate need of God’s grace. This truth sought is found in the Bible alone, and not in humankind.

Of Reconciliation

We believe that Jesus died for all, and all people are able to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We also acknowledge that the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life.

Of the Church

We believe that the Church is a God-given, and God-commanded global body of all true believers called to act in accompaniment with one another in accordance with the Scriptures. The Church is tasked with instruction, preaching, evangelism, missions, accountability, corporate worship, edification, and the general well-being of the body of Christ. The Church’s purpose is to honor and serve Jesus Christ and what he would have for us. The Church is expressed wherever two or more are gathered, in the local church, inside church buildings and beyond their walls, and globally in collective unison, with all capacities and contexts serving unique yet common purposes.

Of Sacraments

We believe there are two true sacraments: The Eucharist (Lord’s Supper or Communion) and Baptism. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward commitment, and is not a means of salvation. The Eucharist is more than symbolic, with there being a real presence of Jesus Christ in some form – we acknowledge the debate around this and see different stances as well within the bounds of sound doctrine

Of Marriage

We believe marriage is between one man and one woman, and that the only God- condoned sexual activity is between one man and one woman in the context of marriage.

Of Behavior

We believe God is imaged and revealed in fruits that we are able to exercise by the power of the Holy Spirit: order, restraint, modesty, cleanliness, duty, honesty, altruism, selflessness, truth, love, resilience, sound character, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, meekness, and self-control. Although we know that we are the clay, and God is the potter, we strive to be holy in honor of Jesus Christ. We do not carry the name of the Lord without purpose or expectation.

Of Life

We believe human life is sacred and is established at conception, worthy and requiring of protection until natural death.

Of Equality

We believe all people are created in God’s image and are equal in His eyes. We believe that one day all nations will stand before the throne, and God wants us all to stand together in respect of each other, as God made us, in this life and this world.

Of Science

We believe material science is our human endeavor to understand the world that God created, and that sound science proves the existence of God as a creative intelligence, a personal being, and an omnipotent ruler over all things.